Pomegranate Crime Scene

After about 2 weeks of hiding behind my wheat germ jar, the pomegranate I purchased was finally put to good use today. I have absolutely zero experience with pomegranates or their seeds, so preparing this mystery fruit made for quite the adventure. After carefully cutting off the top, I began separating the seeds from the membrane...then the chaos began. Those seeds are slippery little suckers! Let's just say that the preparation session concluded with stained counters, a purple-dotted microwave, a speckled T-shirt, and "freckles" all over my body. In short, it looked like a pomegranate homicide had taken place.

Anyway, the hummus-soynut monotony has gladly come to a close. Check out my most recent eats:

Monday
After a failed smoothie attempt using the Vega vanilla chai protein (*gasp* I actually poured it down the drain!), I settled on another strawberry cream shake: strawberries, soymilk, vanilla soy ice cream, and Nutribody protein.
Tuesday
I decided to get creative with yesterday's parfait. I combined plain yogurt (with cinnamon), sliced pear, bran flakes, currants, and almonds. Out of the ordinary and delicious.
In an effort to use up my eggplant, I made a ratatouille with tomato sauce and onions. I served it with couscous, a salad with wheat germ and sweet dill dressing, and a banana with melty PB for dessert.
For dinner, I was craving comfort food, so I heated up some of Amy's baked beans and served them alongside mac & cheeze (based off of this recipe), broccoli, and green beans.
The smoothie last night was a berry bonanza: blueberries, strawberries, soymilk, and Nutribody protein. I am in dire need of frozen fruit! Eek!
Wednesday
Another week, another Banana Bread Blender. This time, I used spelt flakes instead of bran and honey-roasted peanuts for the nut component. Banana with PB...in liquid form.
Lunch today was inspired by a recipe for Baked Bean Stew from Nubella. I omitted the chicken and made a few other adjustments. Toast points and an apple with glorious almond butter rounded everything out.
I just finished a delicious dinner: I made wagon wheel pasta with broccoli and TVP "meat sauce," and I made a killer salad out of greens, sweet dill dressing, pomegranate seeds, and pecans. Whoa.
I promised you pictures of my semi formal outfit for this Saturday:
This is my first time wearing the dress; I hope it will be right for the occasion. PS Anyone have any suggestions on how to do my hair for the evening?

Alright, I am off to do some sorority activities. Ta-ta for now.

Wedding Day!

Hello all! I just had finished getting my hair done (I'll post pics next time), so I have some time to kill before heading to the church for pictures. I have had so much fun in the past few days! As soon as I got out of my (4-hour) anatomy lab on Thursday, I've been mingling with family and friends non-stop. I got a chance to talk to my grandmother (the dietitian), and we had a good conversation about the importance of nutrition in everyday health. I am such a health dork!

Here's what I've been chewing lately:

Wednesday
I made an excellent smoothie out of frozen cherries, cherry Spirutein, nonfat organic plain yogurt, and granola (of course). I found that increasing the amount of frozen fruit and decreasing the amount of yogurt makes my smoothies even tastier!
Thursday
After a quick run and a shower, I needed a lickety-split breakfast before heading to my 10 AM class. I settled on a simple bowl of Kashi GoLean with almond milk and some plain soy yogurt with fresh blueberries.
I packed my lunch to enjoy between classes. I ended up eating it outside on a bench while on campus. Great way to eat a meal! I packed an almond butter sandwich on whole wheat, roasted soy nuts, crudites, and a small apple. Don't you just love the lunch containers?! The bag that they go in is mocha/Carribbean blue.

For dinner we had a few relatives over for Stouffer's lasagna and salad. I decided to make a variation by combining tofu, broccoli, Classico pasta sauce, garlic, basil, and whole wheat rotini.
The shake for the evening consisted of banana, banana Spirutein, and peanut butter.
Friday
Before my run yesterday, I noticed a gorgeous bowl of cherries sitting on the counter--I just had to take a picture! Having a blog is makes me notice beautiful food now...Anyway, for breakfast I had some of those cherries along with some of that multigrain hot cereal and sliced almonds. I added a dash of cinnamon too.
We had a bridesmaid's luncheon yesterday at which they served chicken salad, fruit, quesadillas, and ice cream. Luckily, the chicken salad was served in an avocado half, so I ate most of that and the fruit. I was still hungry when I came home so I made a hummus sandwich with a slab of tofu too and a big spinach salad.
We had the rehearsal dinner last night, and I had a baked potato with various veggies. I had an emergency Clif Nectar bar that I ate halfway through the evening. The other offerings were steak and shrimp, if you're curious. Sorry no pics!

I will try to take some pictures of the copious amounts of food at the reception tonight. I'll leave you with a picture of my sisters and me with a few relatives at the luncheon yesterday.